It’s the not-knowing that hurts most. That truism applies to many things in life, including the ongoing dribbling of layoffs in the Barrow County government.

There’s little argument that the county has to make spending cuts, including cuts in personnel. The county’s budget is weighted far too heavy in salaries and benefits for the amount of revenue it currently receives.

Much of that is due to the extremely poor way the Archer pay study was implemented a few years ago that jumped pay scales too far too fast.

So most people understand that county salaries do have to be cut and layoffs made to get the county’s finances on an even keel… it’s either that, or raise taxes, a move that in this economy is unthinkable.

But like a lot of things in government, it’s not what’s done that often matters most, it’s how it’s done. Doing the right thing the wrong way is usually just as bad as doing the wrong thing to begin with.

That’s the situation Barrow leaders now face. It’s not just the cuts that hurt, it’s the way they’re being done — drip, drip, drip — that is creating controversy and hurting morale of county employees.

We don’t believe this is the intent of county leaders. Perhaps they’ve been too cautious in reacting to the economic downturn and have tried to do smaller cuts over time in a conservative manner.

If that’s the case, it’s had some unintended consequences. The dribble of cuts and lack of good data on which to make decisions has sown confusion in the county, creating more uncertainty than is necessary.

The county has to cut spending, including staffing. It should assemble some solid financial data, make the necessary cuts, then move forward smaller and leaner.

The layoffs will hurt — these are real people with real lives we’re talking about — but both they and the county need to have some stability on which to reconstruct their lives.

Cuts hurt, but not as much as the not-knowing and the weekly drumbeat of an uncertain future.

This editorial is about as sensible a thing as has been written about this whole debacle. The county is paying for (a) unbridled optimism about the revenue stream by the former commission and, to be candid, (b) plain incompetence by the new commission and some of the county staff.

The county owes no guarantee to any employee about their job but they do owe them better than they have received the last few months, culminating in the pathetic circus that we have observed the last few weeks.

I worked in the corporate world. In that world we had to make some very hard decisions about employees and their jobs. When we (the powers that be) made the decision to cut expenses by cutting employees, we made the best of a bad situation.

The decision to lay people off wasn't one of well maybe we will and maybe we won't and we don't know how many or where they will come from.

The decision was made and then and only then were the employees told:
1. We are downsizing
2. You are on the list - your last day will be .....
3. We've already arranged for a consulting firm to step in a assist with preparing resumes, cover letters, and how to apply for unemployment, and yes, offer help in finding other jobs.

I understand the new BOC and Chair have a tough job ahead of them, and I know they've had to make some very hard decisions but a little management skills would go a long ways.

Yearwood is just a pompous A** that speaks before he thinks. He could do to take a class or two in management and people skills.

I understand cuts however,I think the way the county handled the entire situation was dirty. The not knowing was only the beginning of the real hurt. I have a family member that was one of the eleven that was cut on Monday at 4:30. Talk about in distaste, Mrs.High and Mighty HR gave the news, Yearwood and the Dept. Heads were not in the room when the people were given the news. The news came with ,we no longer need your services as of today, you no longer have insurance as of today, please turn your badge in before clocking out. Well, how about that at the end of the day where was Yearwood and the Dept. Head? What happened to the 35 to 40? How is eleven people going to make a dent in the budget?

To Barrow Citizen,
The Garrison BOC administration operated during a time of economic boom and surplus tax related revenue. When economics are good you try to do as much as possible to help the county grow from both an economic investment perspective, as well as an infrastructure perspective. No one can predict the future of any economy. Not you, not me, not even the mighty Alan Greenspan, who rattled the DOW and S&P 500 every time he graced us with his monetary over-rated opinions.

While the Archer Study was controversial in its nature, the BOC operated and made their decisions based on current economic conditions at that time. Thank God Doug's administration did not operate with a "sky is always going to fall mentality".

I would also remind both you and Mr. Buffington, that hindsight is always easier than foresight, when criticizing past administrations on the way they operated.
Quite frankly, without the economic investment that Doug Garrison's administration chose to make in this county, what little tax revenue that is coming in, would not be here at all, and you would be looking at worse deficits than we have have now.

It is time to stop the political personal attack agendas against the Garrison administration, and start working together as county citizens to help foster a spirit of cooperation, and team mentality. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. Only bad news sells, right?

Wake up will you?? This is not your Daddy's and Grandaddys Barrow County anymore. In case you were asleep, 1970 has come and gone. Barrow is no longer just a quiet bedroom community, that shuts down at 5:00PM. Maybe you wish it was, but it's not, nor will it ever be that way again!! The future is here to stay. Either deal with it or find another place that will meet your every little need.

Barrow County will continue to grow, like it or not. At least Doug Garrison had the vision to understand that and act on it.
I for one am sick and tired of hearing about what a terrible job Doug Garrison did as chairman of the BOC. Compared to the current soap opera antics going on at the BOC, Doug Garrison was a superstar............build a bridge and get over it already!!!

DuWayne: The editorial didn't mention Mr. Garrison, just pointed out that the Archer study had been mishandled when implemented (that's not just an opinion, it's the consensus of those who did the study.) This editorial was actually critical of the current administration. I suspect there's plenty of blame to go around for the current county finanical mess, both past and present. You may be tired of reading about it, but we will continue to report the news as it is, not as we wish it to be.

Mike,
I directed my remarks about Garrison, to BC Citizen(Comment#4) He did mention Garrison by name in his post. as the cause for Barrow County's ills. I disagree with that assessment, and posted my remarks in rebuttal, with my reasons. Let the chips fall where they may.
Just a thought for you. Try getting off the negative daily news bandwagon, and try a little positive teamwork journalism for a change. All the news in this county is NOT BAD. I wonder if you could ever put out a mostly positive edition in any given week?
Many people I know say you can't do it. I suspect that you can, but just don't have the motivation yet.

Sorry, DuWayne, we won't spin the news to be "happy" just because you don't want to read what's really happening in Barrow County. We don't cover up facts just because they may not be "positive" in some eyes. The news is what it is.

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